A short Guide to Cn-Domains

(PresseBox) (Koeln, 23.10.2012)The cn-domain is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the People's Republic of China. The registry has restricted the registration of cn-domains for foreign companies and persons. Therefore ICANN accredited Registrar Secura offers the registration of cn-domains with a trustee.

Like most countries, people can register for second-level domain names, e.g.mercedes.cn. However, there are preset ones for certain types of organizations and geographic locations. The third-level registrations at cn-domains were available before second-level registrations became available in 2004, and third-level registrants were given first shot at getting their name at the second level when this was opened up.

Foreign companies register usually at .cn and com.cn, also at .net.cn and .org.cn.The com.cn extension is in China still more popular than the cn-extension. A prudent company registers thereofore at .cn, .com.cn, .net.cn and .org.cn.

Domain names with Chinese characters may also be registered at the second level at the .cn top-level domain. A new Domain, .china in Chinese, is also available for registrations with Chinese characters or with Latin characters.

The Registry of cn-domains has made available cn-domains for each of the Chinese provinces. These domain name extensions, like .com.cn and .cn, are completely unrestricted and open to anyone.

China has one of the largest growing Internet populations. As of June 2004, there were over 94 million internet users. With such high popularity, and in conjunction with some of the infringement we have already seen, it may be prudent to consider securing top mark(s) in these extensions.